The first systematic review of rapamycin/rapalogs in humans for aging. Screened 18,400 articles, included 19 studies. Found improvements in immune, cardiovascular, and skin (integumentary) parameters; NO significant effect on endocrine, muscular, or neurological systems. No serious adverse events in healthy people, but more infections and raised cholesterol/triglycerides in people with age-related disease. This is the highest-tier human-evidence summary in the whole Atlas - it aggregates many individual human studies rather than reporting one.
| Evidence tier | A Systematic review of human data |
| Study type | 1 - Systematic Review |
| Model system | Systematic review (19 human studies, 5 databases) |
| Journal | Lancet Healthy Longevity |
| Year | 2024 |
| Peer reviewed | Yes |
| Source | DOI 10.1016/S2666-7568(23)00258-1 · PMID 38310895 |
Rapamycin and its derivatives (rapalogs) are inhibitors of mTOR, a major regulator of the ageing process. We aimed to summarise the effects of rapamycin and its derivatives on the severity of ageing-related physiological changes and disease in adults. A search across five databases yielded 18 400 unique articles, resulting in 19 included studies. Rapamycin and its derivatives improved physiological parameters associated with ageing in the immune, cardiovascular, and integumentary systems of healthy individuals or individuals with ageing-related diseases. Overall, no significant effects on the endocrine, muscular, or neurological systems were found. The effects of rapamycin or its derivatives on the respiratory, digestive, renal, and reproductive systems were not assessed. No serious adverse events attributed to rapamycin and its derivatives were reported in healthy individuals; however, there were increased numbers of infections and increases in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides in individuals with ageing-related diseases. Future studies should assess the remaining unexamined systems and test the effects of long-term exposure to rapamycin and its derivatives.
| Intervention | Rapamycin and rapalogs (aggregate of 19 studies) |
| Target | mTOR |
| Model | Human – systematic review (19 studies, 5 databases) |
| Effect | Improved immune, cardiovascular and skin parameters; no effect on endocrine/muscular/neurological systems |